


all i wanted was everything

by bookbug99



Category: One Day at a Time (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-25
Updated: 2017-10-25
Packaged: 2019-01-23 00:26:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12494280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookbug99/pseuds/bookbug99
Summary: The whole disaster starts when Elena’s history teacher Mrs. Rodriguez informs her that she needs to have a partner for the end-of-the-semester final project.(Or: Elena falls in love for the first time, with a little help from classic literature.)





	all i wanted was everything

The whole disaster starts when Elena’s history teacher Mrs. Rodriguez informs her that she needs to have a partner for the end-of-the-semester final project.

“I work better alone,” Elena explains. She already has a plan for the project, which requires that the students research a famous historical figure and then give a presentation explaining the person’s impact on history. And more importantly: she already has her idea picked out.

Elena’s going to research Virginia Woolf, partly because of her amazing feminist works, but also because Virgina Woolf was 100% gay and wrote love letters where she told Vita Sackville West to dump her husband and run away with her instead.

“I understand,” Mrs. Rodriguez says. “And Virginia Woolf is an excellent choice, dear.  _ A Room of One’s Own _ was one of my favorite texts I read during the women’s studies class I took in college. But unfortunately, we have a new student coming into our class.”

“It’s December,” says Elena. Last weekend, the whole family went to pick out their Christmas tree (southern California doesn’t have Christmas tree farms, so they went to Home Depot). Alex argued that they should get a six-foot pine; Mami and Abuelita kept arguing about the prices of the trees; and Schneider almost cut himself trying to take down the tree with his chainsaw.

“I know, but this is a special case,” Mrs. Rodriguez says. “Her name is Grace de la Vega, and she’s a lovely girl. And since you’re the only one not partnered in third hour”-- 

Elena sighs. With Carmen gone, her classes at Saint B’s are ten times lonelier and more boring. Carmen would have been good at delegating the work (80/20, to ensure they got an A).

“And so you two will be working together,” Mrs. Rodriguez finishes. She pushes her reading glasses up her nose, and looks around the classroom, which is beginning to fill with the next hour’s students. She reaches inside her desk and scribbles out a pass. “You’d better get going, Ms. Alvarez.”

Elena sighs. There goes her perfect grade point average and any hope of getting into Wellesley (even if women’s colleges are inherently sexist but a strong way for women to free themselves from patriarchal bonds).

***

“Wait,” says Mami as they’re sitting around the table for dinner that night. Abuelita has made her famous ropa vieja, spicy enough to burn your tongue. Alex is devouring his soup while watching YouTube videos on his phone, Abuelita is folding her napkin, and Schneider is blowing on his scalding hot soup.

Yes, Schneider is there, because he’s always there.

“Your teacher assigned you a new partner for the semester project?” Mami continues.

“Yes, and it’s the worst.” Elena resist the urge to head-bang onto the table and directly into her soup.

“It doesn’t seem that bad,” Alex says, bothering to look up. “At least you can just let the other person do all the work.”

“Alex!” Mami says. “Is that the kind of work ethic I raised you to have?”

“It’s what everyone does,” Alex says. “Like that annoying dude at your work. Or Schneider. He just lets other people do the work.”

“That’s not what you’ll be doing, hija,” Mami says, turning her attention back to Elena. “I think this is a wonderful opportunity for you to”--

“If you say ‘make friends’ I will throw something,” Elena mutters under her breath.

“--to make new friends! Especially now that Carmen is in Texas. And besides, imagine what’s happening to this poor girl. Moving in the middle of the year is never easy. I think this is a great idea.” Mami smiles and bites down onto her bread.

“Maybe she’ll be cute,” Schneider says.

“For the last time, I do not need your love advice,” Elena says. She’s walked in on Schneider and random, pinup-model pretty girls too many times when she went over to his apartment to explain that the sink was broken again.

“I’m just saying,” Schneider starts.

“NO,” Mami, Abuelita, Alex, and Elena shout in unison.

***

Grace de la Vega turns out to be….really (well, mind her language) fucking pretty. She has dark brown skin and lush brown hair and is wearing a Supergirl T-shirt the day that she walks into third hour World History. Elena is definitely staring.

“Grace, hello,” Mrs. Rodriguez says. “This is Elena Alvarez, she’ll be your partner for the project. Elena already has an idea and has started some research, so why don’t you two collaborate together.”

“Hi,” Elena says in a squeaky voice.

“Hey,” Grace says. She slides into the empty desk besides Elena’s and plops her backpack down on the floor. It’s covered in pins and most importantly, Elena notices: one of them is a pride flag. “Sorry for like, coming in here and messing up your plans.”

“No, no, no,” Elena says. Up close, Grace has freckles that sparkle in the light. “Um, you didn’t mess anything up.” 

Why does her new partner have to be so pretty? 

“You’re doing it on Virginia Woolf, right?” Grace says. “At my old school, we had to read  _ To The Lighthouse _ for English sophomore year. It was amazing.”

“I was thinking,” Elena says, “um, do you know anything about her and Vita Sackville West? The one”--

“Isn’t she the one that Virginia Woolf wrote like super gay letters to?” Grace says. “I hate how everyone always acts like people in historical times weren’t hella gay, because they definitely were. Wasn’t like, Virginia Woolf and Vita cheating on their husbands with each other?”

“Yes,” Elena says, grinning.

“That sounds perfect,” Grace says. “Can I see your notes?”

Elena slides over her notebook, and they spend the rest of the period reading articles online, checking the notes Elena’s already written, and planning their presentation slides. 

When the bell rings, Elena spends more time putting away her stuff than necessary. “Hey,” she says, “I have A lunch, which is right after this period. What lunch do you have?”

“A lunch,” Grace says.

“Perfect,” Elena says. “We can eat together.”

Grace grins, and Elena follows her out of the classroom, thinking:  _ Oh, shit. _

***

That night, when she gets home, Elena walks in on the strangest situation possible: Abuelita, Schneider, and Alex sitting in front of a TV and yelling.

“Um, what’s happening?” Elena says, setting her backpack on the floor.

“Hello, my dearest nieta, we are watching grown men who are naked wrestle,” Abuelita says.

“WHAT?” Elena says. If they’re watching gay porn, she can’t even walk by the couch without screaming and/or internally combusting.

“No, it’s not anything weird,” Alex says. “We’re watching MMA wrestling. Come sit down.”

“Oh, yeah, he slammed him real tight,” Schneider says. Elena groans and slides onto the couch.

“Yes, yes, yes!” Alex screams as on-screen, the two men collapse on top of each other. Abuelita cheers. Elena has to admit that her grandmother’s opinion wasn’t entirely wrong: they are wearing very little clothing, there’s a lot of sweat, and a lot of closeups on said sweat.

“Who do we want to win?” Elena says.

“Fuck, get it in the corner, right there,” Schneider says. Alex and Elena stare at him with matching wtf-looks, and he answers quickly: “Right, no swearing in front of the impressionable teens.”

“That’s not what was weird about that sentence,” Alex says. He turns to his sister and says, “We want Justice Sonnen to win. He’s the one who looks like Jason Momoa plus Johnny Depp, and he’s the highest-ranking fighter in his class.”

On screen, Justice knocks the dude over so hard the mat groans. Abuelita claps her hands together.    
  
“This is so thrilling,” she says. “Back in my day, mud wrestling was all we had on the mean streets of Cuba.”

Twenty minutes later, Mami comes home from work to find Alex, Elena, Abuelita, and Schneider shoving popcorn into their mouths and screaming at the fight.

“No, no, come on, you need to hit the blindspot,” Elena yells.

“This is why we need regulations,” Alex says with a sigh. “That was a total bad call.”

“Their costumes should be tighter,” Abuelita says.

“NO,” they all scream as Justice Sonnen collapses to the ground and hits the edges of the ring. He manages to get himself up, just barely, and Schneider takes a note in his “betting notebook” -- -1 in Sonnen’s favor in the Alvarez Family MMA Bracket.

“What’s happening here?” Mami says with a reasonable amount of suspicion.

“You’ll understand,” is all Elena says.

***

After four days working on their project -- which is due in a week -- Elena has gotten to know her history partner in new and exciting ways. Not that way, even if Elena is definitely fantasizing about kissing Grace’s mouth and sliding her hands up her shirt and--okay, this is why she can barely focus in class.

Grace is Mexican (not Cuban, a sure disappointment for Abuelita); she’s from Santa Clara; she moved to Los Angeles after her dad got a new job working for Sony Pictures; she has a younger brother named Jonas and an older sister named Marisol; she plays volleyball and plans to try out for the team at Saint B’s this spring.

They’re sitting in the library for another scheduled work day, hiding from all the dumbass annoying boys in this class.

“So, um,” Elena says. She doesn’t know how to bring this up, but she’s been constantly wondering for a week. She points at Grace’s backpack, at the rainbow flag pin attached to the front.

She doesn’t know how to bring up, well...gay stuff. It’s not like she really has any gay friends or even really feels comfortable talking about being a lesbian yet. 

Elena just figured out that she liked girls five months ago, and her family’s been accepting and kind, but she doesn’t know how to bring it up. Do you drop hints? Do you just come straight out and say: “Hey, I’m gay?” Do you wait for the other person to bring it up, but is that just assuming Grace’s sexuality?

“I like your pin,” Elena says, hoping that’s enough.

Grace’s eyes light up. “It’s so adorable. I got it at Pride last year.”

“Which Pride did you go to?” Elena asks.

“We drove down to LA Pride, and it was amazing,” Grace says. She leans her arm against the desk, and grins, and Elena wants to kiss every single one of her freckles. Today she’s wearing a black t-shirt that shows off every single curve of her skin.

“I’d never felt so, you know….open before. Like it was a community. Like every single person was like me. I mean, I came out two years ago, and I’m in GSA and I’m totally open talking about being bisexual. But it was a different experience, not being surrounded only by straight people.”

“I’ve never been to Pride,” Elena admits. She’s seen photos: people grinning and carrying pride flags, floats of outrageously dressed drag queens dancing down the street, leather-clad lesbians riding motorcycles past couples kissing in front of rainbow banners.  _ Love is love  _ T-shirts. She wants that. She wants to be part of a community of people who are like her, a community that will accept her. She’s worried they won’t. “I want to, someday.”

“We should definitely go together,” Grace says.

Elena keeps talking. “I came out to my family recently, you know. I told them I’m gay. And my grandma, she’s really conservative and she goes to church every week and I was worried about what Abuelita would say. But she accepted me anyway. My little brother”-- She smiles, thinking about Alex saying Buffy was hot -- “he was so nice about it, and hugged me and said it didn’t matter. It was more complicated for my mom, because all she wants is to protect me. And I think she was afraid she couldn’t protect me from like, homophobia. But it was fine.” Elena exhales, and then admits: “I’ve never told anyone that before.”

“Can I give you a hug?” Grace says.

Elena nods, and they hug for a long moment. Elena breathes in Grace’s perfume, and the smell of her hair, and imagines kissing her. When they let go, she’s still thinking about kissing her.

“Your family sounds amazing,” Grace says. “And there’s no right way to say that you’re gay. Or tell someone else.”

“I didn’t know how to tell you,” Elena admits. “But I saw the pin on your backpack. And I guess I just...figured.”

“I’m proud of you,” is all Grace says, and Elena feels herself falling even more in love.

***

It’s Saturday night. Mami is at therapy, Abuelita claims to be at “salsa dancing classes” but they’ve all seen her moves so that probably means that she’s actually at a nightclub, and Schneider claims to be actually doing work, so for once once so he isn’t hanging around like a semi-creepy surrogate father figure.

It’s just Alex and Elena tonight. Elena’s been trying to get her homework done for an hour (annotating a chapter of  _ The Great Gatsby _ and a set of calculus problems), but she’s tired and can’t bother to read a single page. 

Alex is playing video games on the couch, one of those NBA 2kwhatever games. Elena listens to the sound of the game for a minute -- the referee yells PENALTY -- and then walks over to the couch.

“Hey,” she says.

Alex doesn’t look up. “Hey,” he says, keeping his intense concentration on the screen.

“Can I play?”

“You want to play?” Alex says. “I thought you hate sports because of the “increased subjugation of the working poor” and you’re always talking about how bad concussions are.”

“Girls can play video games, too,” Elena says, picking up a second controller. 

They play for a while, pretending to be star basketball players on the NBA’s newest team, the Seattle Sharkicorns. After they win a third game in a row, securing the Seattle Sharkicorns a spot in the NBA playoffs, Elena sets down her xbox controller.

“Hey, Alex,” she says. “Can I talk to you about something?”

“ _ You _ want to talk to me about something?”

“Don’t sound that surprised. I need your advice.”

Alex grins. “I always knew this day would come. What is it? You want to learn how to woo girls with your charming wit and genetically handsome face?”

“Actually….yes.”

“Oh my god,” Alex says. “You mean the day has finally come? Elena Alvarez isn’t a old cat lady anymore? You’re not going to die alone?”

“Shut up.”

“Well, I’m here at your service. What’s her name?” Elena laughs, because six months ago the idea of talking to her little brother about girls would have been impossible. 

“Grace,” she says.

“Wait,” Alex says. “The one you’re doing your history project with?”

“Yessss,” Elena says, drawing out the word. “That one.”

“She’s cute,” Alex says. “Good taste.”

“Ew, never say that again. Yes, Grace is my history partner, and she’s super nice. And sweet. And smart. And funny. And she’s bisexual, she told me, and she’s a volleyball player and she loves comics and always wears these super adorable nerdy shirts”-- Elena cuts herself off when she realizes what’s happening.

“Oh my god,” Alex says after a prolonged silence. “ _ You’ve got it baaaaaad _ .” He picks up a decorative pillow and throws it at her; Elena ducks, but she’s laughing.

“Is it really that obvious?”

“I’m a relationship guru, I know what I’m doing. And yeah, you’ve got it bad for this girl.” Alex grins.

“What do you think I should do?” Elena says. “Mr. Relationship Guru.”

“Just talk to her,” Alex says. “Communication is the most important aspect of maintaining a healthy relationship.”

“What book is that from?”

“ _ Shut up _ , Elena,” Alex says with a roll of his eyes, and then she’s laughing again. “But seriously. Talk to her. You’re obviously super in love with her, and she sounds pretty cool, so just  _ go on and kiss the girl _ .”

“Was that a Little Mermaid reference?” Elena says.

“You know it,” Alex says with a wink. Elena feels so happy, because there’s some things you can only talk to your siblings about. They know you better than you know yourself...and they also know how to tease you relentlessly like no one else.

“Thank you,” Elena says. “I’d hug you, but gross.”

“Exactly,” Alex says. “You’re welcome. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Elena says.

***

The history presentation goes off without a hitch. Their presentation is perfectly formatted, Elena even managed to embed a video of Virginia Woolf reading one of her works, and their bibliography is perfectly cited.

A couple of kids make gross face expressions when Grace talks about Virginia's letters to Vita Sackville West, but otherwise everything goes great. Mrs. Rodriguez even mentions how proud she is of their “hard and determined work.”

Elena spends half the presentation thinking about the project requirements and half the presentation staring at Grace. She’s so beautiful, and so smart, and so funny. All she wants is to kiss her.

Alex’s words echo in her head:  _ communication is the most important aspect of maintaining a healthy relationship. _

Take a risk, Elena.

After the presentations are finished, there’s fifteen minutes left before the bell rings. Mrs. Rodriguez tells the class that they can have a work day. “A work day” really just means everyone either texts and/or talks to their friends for the rest of the hour.

“Hey,” Elena says. “That was amazing.”

Grace grins and pushes a strand of hair back. “We totally killed it.”

“Next stop, Wellesley.” Elena grins. “But um, I have a question for you. Are you available this weekend?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Grace says. “My sister’s coming home tomorrow from college for Christmas, but I should be around.”

“There’s a protest on Saturday about immigration,” Elena says. “I want to go to support my friend Carmen -- her parents are Mexican immigrants, and they were deported -- and I was wondering if you’d come with me.”

“Yes, of course,” Grace says. “Where is it?”   
  
“LA City Hall at noon.”

Grace is already entering the details into her phone’s calendar. “I’ll take the subway to your house,” she says, “pick you up, and then we can go to the protest. Sounds like a date.”

Those words make Elena stop in her tracks. Sounds like a date. “Grace,” she says. “I don’t--I don’t know how to say this. I’m socially awkward and I’m terrible at expressing my feelings and I don’t know anything about dating girls or being a lesbian or”--

“Or?” Grace says with a small smile. She gestures for Elena to continue.

“--can this be a real date? I really like you, and you’re so smart and funny and kind and I’ve never had a real girlfriend before,” Elena finishes in one fell swoop. There’s a silence, where she’s afraid Grace is about to laugh in her face.

Instead, Grace grins and says: “I thought you’d never ask.”

“Really?” Elena says.

“Girl, I thought you were stunning the second I saw you. And you’re an amazing friend, and so smart, and so creative. You’re the only person I can talk to about Star Wars and Supergirl and intersectional feminism and what it’s like being one of the only Latina girls in this hella white school. Of course I’ll go on a date with you. I’ve wanted you to ask me out for months.” Grace grins.   
  
Elena smiles. “I guess we were both just really stupid about each other’s feelings.”

“No shit,” Grace says, and then they’re laughing in the back of Mrs. Rodriguez’s third period history class. Nothing matters, except this.

***

“I want a picture of you two,” Mami says. “We need to celebrate this historic moment.” It’s Saturday, 80 degrees and sunny, the protest is in two hours, and of course Elena’s entire family needs to watch her get ready for her first date.

“Of course, Ms. Alvarez,” Grace says, wrapping an arm around Elena.

“Don’t call me that, I’m still young and beautiful,” Mami says. “And a badass soldier, thank you very much.” 

“We  _ get it _ ,” says Schneider.

They take several pictures: Grace and Elena standing against a wall, standing against the beaded curtain, even an awkward prom-photo pose.

“You two are the cutest,” Abuelita says. “Remember, love grows like a blossom, and it sprouts from the spirit of your body into a sunflower.”

“That’s poetic,” says Grace. Elena tries not to roll her eyes too hard. Her abuela is incapable of saying anything non-dramatic, especially about true love.

“Mami,” she says, “why do we need to take all of these photos?” Mami sets down her iPhone and gives her daughter a knowing look.

“So we can remember,” she says, “the day our beautiful little girl went on her first date. A moment to cherish, and remember, and cry over someday when you leave me forever. And for your scrapbook.”

“I don’t have a scrapbook,” says Elena.

“You do now,” Mami says, with another click of her lens. Penelope Alvarez stops for nothing.

Grace, for her credit, takes all of this in stride and seems to think that it’s cute. Elena checks the time on her phone and grabs Grace’s hand. “We have to go,” she says. “The protest starts in an hour, and we’ll miss the train if we don’t leave now.”

“I don’t understand why you’re going to a protest for a first date,” Schneider says. Schneider's fulfilling his surrogate dad role today by sending dirty looks at Grace every five seconds to intimidate her. It isn’t working, but Elena appreciates the effort.

“Because it’s Elena,” Alex says. “She has to stay on brand.”

“And”-- Elena starts.

“And she needs to protect the civil rights that our current government wants to take away,” Alex finishes.

Elena finally manages to get out the door, Grace’s hand in hers. They make it into the hallway, away from her family, and Grace starts laughing. “Your family is hilarious,” she says. “You should have your own TV show.”

“Yes, we’ll be the Cuban Kardashians,” Elena says. She squeezes Grace’s hand. “Are you ready?”

“Almost,” Grace says. She steps forward, her Converse clicking on the apartment floor. “One more thing.”

She leans in, and Elena leans in, and go on and kiss the girl: it’s soft, and sweet, and finishes too quickly. Elena wants to do it again, immediately.

And then they’re both laughing out of joy and relief.

_ Thanks, Virginia Woolf. _


End file.
